The Sukhoi Su-27 is a Soviet-origin twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation jet fighters such as the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, with 3,530-kilometre (1,910 nmi) range, heavy aircraft ordnance, sophisticated avionics and high maneuverability. The Su-27 was designed for air superiority missions, and subsequent variants are able to perform almost all aerial warfare operations. It was designed with the Mikoyan MiG-29 as its complement.
An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are capable of being or are employed as both ‘standard’ air superiority fighters and as interceptors are sometimes known as fighter-interceptors. There are two general classes of interceptor: light fighters, designed for high performance over short range; and heavy fighters, which are intended to operate over longer ranges, in contested airspace and adverse meteorological conditions. While the second type was exemplified historically by specialized night fighter and all-weather interceptor designs, the integration of mid-air refueling, satellite navigation, on-board radar and beyond visual range (BVR) missile systems since the 1960s has allowed most frontline fighter designs to fill the roles once reserved for specialised night/all-weather fighters.
The Cessna T-37 Tweet is a small, economical twin-engined jet trainer type which flew for decades as a primary trainer for the United States Air Force (USAF) and in the air forces of several other nations. The T-37C was also capable of light attack. The A-37 Dragonfly variant served in the light attack role during the Vietnam War and continues to serve in the air forces of several South American nations.
The Sukhoi Su-7 is a swept wing, supersonic fighter aircraft developed by the Soviet Union in 1955. Originally, it was designed as a tactical, low-level dogfighter, but was not successful in this role. On the other hand, the soon-introduced Su-7B series became the main Soviet fighter-bomber and ground-attack aircraft of the 1960s. The Su-7 was rugged in its simplicity, but its Lyulka AL-7 engine had such high fuel consumption that it seriously limited the aircraft's payload, as even short-range missions required that at least two hardpoints be used to carry drop tanks rather than ordnance.
The Sukhoi Su-11 was an interceptor aircraft used by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristics and a simplified cockpit arrangement—allows pilots-in-training to safely advance their skills in a more forgiving aircraft.
The Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) was an aircraft procurement program of the United States in the 1990s by the United States Air Force and United States Navy, a merger of 1980s era training aircraft programs. The winner was declared in 1995 and entered service a few years later as the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II. The program was partly a result of the cancelled Fairchild T-46 of the 1980s.
The Douglas F6D Missileer was a proposed carrier-based fleet defense fighter designed by Douglas Aircraft Company in response to a 1959 United States Navy requirement. It was designed to be able to loiter for extended periods at a relatively long distance from the Navy's aircraft carriers, engaging hostile aircraft 100 miles (160 km) away with its powerful radar and long-range missiles. Since the enemy would be fired on long before they reached visual range, the aircraft had little dogfighting capability and was strictly subsonic. When doubts were expressed about the Missileer's ability to defend itself after firing its missiles, the value of the project was questioned, leading to its cancellation. Some of the Missileer's systems, primarily the engines, radar, and missiles, continued development in spite of the cancellation, eventually emerging on the ill-fated General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B and successful Grumman F-14 Tomcat years later.
The empennage, also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow. The term derives from the French language verb empenner which means "to feather an arrow". Most aircraft feature an empennage incorporating vertical and horizontal stabilising surfaces which stabilise the flight dynamics of yaw and pitch, as well as housing control surfaces.
A twin tail is a specific type of vertical stabilizer arrangement found on the empennage of some aircraft. Two vertical stabilizers—often smaller on their own than a single conventional tail would be—are mounted at the outside of the aircraft's horizontal stabilizer. This arrangement is also known as an H-tail, as it resembles a capital "H" when viewed from the rear. The twin tail was used on a wide variety of World War II multi-engine designs that saw mass production, especially on the American B-24 Liberator and B-25 Mitchell bombers, the British Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers, and the Soviet Union's Petlyakov Pe-2 attack bomber.
The Van's RV-6 and RV-6A are two-seat, single-engine, low-wing homebuilt airplanes sold in kit form by Van's Aircraft. The RV-6 is the tail-wheel equipped version while the RV-6A features a nose-wheel. The RV-6 was the first aircraft in the popular Van's RV series to feature side-by-side seating and the first to offer a nosewheel option. It was first flown in 1985. Over 2700 kits have been completed and flown.
The Sukhoi Su-15 was a prototype Soviet all-weather interceptor which never reached production. The designation was later reused for an entirely different 1960s interceptor, see Sukhoi Su-15.
The Fokker S.III was a biplane trainer aircraft of the 1920s. It was of conventional configuration, seating the pilot and instructor in tandem, open cockpits. The single-baywings were staggered and of unequal span.
The Azcárate O-E-1 was a reconnaissance-bomber aircraft developed in Mexico in the late 1920s. It was designed by General Brigadier Juan Francisco Azcárate and built at the TNCA workshops near Mexico City. A trainer version, the Azcárate E-1 was also built. It was a sesquiplane of conventional configuration with tailskid undercarriage, and seating the crew in tandem, open cockpits. The types are sometimes collectively referred to simply as the "Azcárate sesquiplane".
The General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B is a long-range carrier-based interceptor aircraft planned as a follow-on to the F-4 Phantom II for the United States Navy (USN).
The Westland Witch was an unsuccessful British bomber prototype, first flown in 1928. Only a single aircraft of this type was built.
The Miles M.35 Libellula was a tandem wing research aircraft built by Miles Aircraft as a precursor to a proposed naval carrier fighter. It was named after the Libellula, a genus of dragonflies.
The Akaflieg Darmstadt D-41 was a two-seat, side-by-side configuration sailplane designed to perform as well as tandem seaters. It was built in Germany in the 1990s and was used by Akaflieg Darmstadt students until it was lost in a crash.
The Sukhoi Shkval was a Soviet project for an interceptor in the tail-sitter design.
The Sukhoi S-6 was a design proposal for a two-seat tactical bomber which was developed in the Soviet Union. Roughly based on the Su-15U, further development eventually led to the Sukhoi T-6-1 and via the T-6-2 to the Sukhoi Su-24.
